Clash of TRAC titans: Central High shares league title with Clovis East after 2-1 win

While fans and the coaching staffs of two of the Central Section’s top high school soccer teams were battling it out for the TRAC championship, Central High senior Christopher Meza was enjoying the tussle against top-ranked Clovis East.

In the end, Meza was all smiles after his third-ranked team managed a 2-1 victory against Clovis East and grabbed a co-TRAC championship Friday afternoon.

“We didn’t really care about the seedings, and we didn’t care about winning this game,” said Meza, whose first-half goal tied the match at 1-1. “All we cared about was just having fun out here in the field and just playing our game, our style and look.

“We came out with a big win,” said Meza, who missed some key TRAC matches due to injury.

Central improved to 18-3-2 overall and could make a case for a top seeding in Division I when matchups are released Saturday.

Clovis East, 16-4-2, could also deserve top seeding based on its overall record.

Both teams finished 7-2-1 in the section’s toughest league.

Meza’s teammate, Jesús Rodríguez, headed in a goal on a set play in the second-half to give the visitors an advantage they never gave up.

Meza scored his goal just about five feet from the goal but with a sliver of an angle. He touched a rebound with his left foot to get the ball into the far post past a falling Clovis East goalkeeper Kyle LaGrasse.

“I just had that little one touch in the box and got it placed in the corner and got the goal,” said Meza, who missed last month’s home match against Clovis East (a 2-1 victory for the visitors).

Central had several scoring opportunities in the second half, but couldn’t convert. Meza chalked that up to the Clovis East defense.

“Clovis East is a very, very good team,” said Meza. “They played very competitively, and they gave us a great battle.”

Central head coach Eli Gallegos, in his first year in that post after having split head coaching duties last season, was happy with what he saw.

“We just take a game at a time,” said Gallegos, who played at Central. “Every single game this year in TRAC has been, you know, a nail biter. I think today we finally got it all together. And so from here now we start focusing on that postseason play.”

Central had to escape a threat in the final minutes when Clovis East challenged junior goalkeeper Jacob Martínez. However, Martínez made a couple of spectacular stops to ice the game for Central.

“This is his first year at varsity, and he’s really stepped up his game,” said Gallegos. “Although he’s a smaller keeper in stature, he puts himself in excellent positions.”

Clovis East head coach Erik Farfan, in his fifth season, was pleased that his team claimed a piece of the TRAC title.

“All games in TRAC are tough,” said Farfan. “Anybody can beat anybody at any given day. It doesn’t matter if you’re home or away.

Clovis East was looking for its first outright league title.

“This is new territory for us, but we’re still super proud of our boys,” said Farfan.

Senior striker Andrew Huerta called the match “one of our toughest games we’ve had this season.”

“We wanted the sole title but it is what it is. Now, we have to look forward to the section playoffs,” said Huerta.

Junior Tyler LaGrassed outrun the Central defense down the left side of the field to score the game-opening goal.